A rare camera trap record of the Hispid Hare Caprolagus hispidus from Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Terai Arc Landscape, India
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Abstract
Hispid Hare Caprolagus hispidus, member of family Leporidae, is a highly elusive species. Now restricted to grasslands of north India, southern Nepal and parts of Bhutan, this lagomorph was historically known to be found upto south Bangladesh in Dhaka. There are currently a very few photographic evidences of this rare and threatened lagomorph as it inhabits dense tall grasslands. Here, we present a photographic evidence of the Hispid Hare from the grasslands of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Uttar Pradesh, India. The hare was camera-trapped in January 2020 as part of an ongoing study on ungulates in floodplain Terai grasslands of the park. Although we found signs of Hispid Hare in multiple grasslands, we only photo documented it in one of our sampling sites. Intensive sampling efforts are needed to get an estimate of the hare in the park, and to assess the immediate threats to this lagomorph and its habitats to plan better conservation measures.
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